Undoubtedly, WordPress is one of the most stable and popular eCommerce platforms. However it still has a bad reputation for being prone to security vulnerabilities. By default, it’s not the most secure CMS platform.
There are plenty of things that can cause serious security issues. Hackers are always in search of those websites that have some major security vulnerabilities like using outdated WordPress versions, nulled themes and plugins, poor credential management and lack of security knowledge.
Even top industry leaders often face security issues because they don’t follow the best security practices. Reuters, a popular brand website was hacked previously. Their website got hacked because they were using an outdated version of WordPress. Poor people!
Currently WordPress is powering over 40% of websites across the globe. As Users fancy WordPress because it’s an open source platform but they are not the only one who love WordPress.
Hackers are always in search of security vulnerabilities through which they break into a website and cause disruption.
Around 100,000 sites are compromised by hackers every single day. That’s why it’s highly essential to secure your website and harden its security.
Scared? Don’t worry.
In this article we’ll walk you through some effective techniques and practices you need to follow to secure your website from hackers.
So without further ado, let’s get started.
4 ways to secure your WordPress website
Schedule regular security scans
A massive and sudden drop in site traffic, changes in website that you never made, or issue in performance, all of these problems means there is something fishy going on and it’s the time you should scan your site for malwares.
Running security scans on a regular basis is very essential. Even if everything works perfectly still you need to perform it at least once in a month.
Hackers work covertly. Although they are highly talented folks but evil in nature. They are capable of fooling even the webmasters. So if you think everything seems fine, you never know. You will only get to know about it when the damage is done.
That’s why we always recommend running malware scans on your website regularly. Don’t worry, you don’t have to do it manually. There are plenty of security plugins available. A security plugin will not only monitor your site but also look out for security vulnerabilities.
Some reputable security plugins are,
- All in One WP Security & Firewall
- Wonderfence Security
- iThemes Security
- Malware Security
Our top pick and most favorite plugin is Sucuri SiteCheck. It’s a free and one of the most reliable malware scanners.
But obviously, the choice is yours. No matter whichever option you choose just remember to regularly scan your website for malwares.
Choose a secured hosting service provider
When it comes to security of your WordPress website, there are plenty of elements that play a significant role. Your web hosting provider is also responsible for keeping your website safe from hackers.
Unfortunately, at times users don't even know that the hosting provider is not looking after their website properly. Frequent downtime, more hackers attacks and low performance, all of these things are the result of scant security mechanisms.
Also avoid choosing shared hosting service because even if one site gets contaminated, all the other sites will be at risk too. It’s better to choose a dedicated hosting plan. They might not be that budget friendly but they will eliminate all the security risk from the server's side.
Keep a back-up of your website
Even if you follow all the best security practices, one of the most essential task is to keep a back-up of your WordPress site.
A backup version of your latest website must be always available on a remote server, so if anything goes wrong, you can restore your website quickly and easily.
Even highly secured websites of governments and officials also get hacked. It's unbelievable but it’s the reality.
Sometimes when you install new themes or plugins, they also cause errors. If you don’t want to test them in a staging environment then it's essential to first make a backup of your website.
Unfortunately, there is a back-up option available in WordPress by default. You have three options to do that either you choose a hosting provider who offers a back-up facility or use cloud service like Amazon, Stash or Dropbox. You can also use back-up plugins to create a back-up of your site such as BackupBuddy, BackUpWordPress, and VaultPress.
You can also set a backup schedule based on how frequently you make changes to your website.
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Avoid using nulled themes and plugins
Since it's an open-source platform, hundreds of thousands of developers make valuable contributions in form of plugins and themes.
However, there are free versions of premium plugins and themes are also available in the market. Users who want those premium plugins and themes but are unable to purchase them because they’re expensive, they look for a pirated version of them.
The market is full of pirated versions of premium plugins and themes which are also known as nulled plugins and themes. These nulled plugins and themes are usually created by hackers or they have malware hidden in the codes.
If you’re not familiar with coding, it's impossible to find it. Once you activate nulled plugins or themes on your site, it’s security is threatened. Cyberpunks often use them to create backdoors on your site.
Hence, your website security will be compromised totally. Therefore, we strongly advise you to avoid using nulled plugins and themes. We understand that they seem pretty tempting but they might cost you your whole business.
Conclusion
Maintaining the security of your WordPress website is essential. If you want to escape these brutal cyberattacks then we suggest you take our advice into consideration and follow our guidelines to keep your website safe and secure from hackers.
